We're having people over for Gretchen's birthday in a couple weeks. For her birthday the challenge is to frame a dish, or flavors, she likes in a new way. Last year's dinner was tarte flambee and a brown butter spaetzle dish, which was more or less a take on the farmer cheese/noodle thing she's all about. This year is still kind of coming together, but I'm starting to get ready.
So the next few weekends will be a combination of testing and prep work.
Sweet Potato Pancakes
Positive - The sweet potatoes this season continue to be really great. This used up some leftovers from earlier in the week
Negative - Despite actually following a recipe, these had the same custard like consistancy...I can't seem to figure this one out. They were way too moist, even though I thinned the batter, it continued to have the same texture. I probably just needed to add less sweet potato; I will eventually get these right.
Curried Leek and Roasted Cauliflower Soup
w/tomato salt and broiled tomato
Positive - I was just trying to get a Saturday lunch done after a run and before we drove out to Green-wood Cemetery for the afternoon. Saturday morning means a painfully full fridge after a trip to the farmer's market, and I figured getting the head of cauliflower out of there was a good idea.
Negative - Maybe it's because I had some free sausage (which was good) that Ottomanelli's was handing out during my run, but this seemed to lack some salt or something. I wish I hadn't added milk to thin this at the end; it always mutes the flavor.
I was having a problem with fitting a lot of things in the oven this weekend- with the baking stone in there, all of the heat gets funneled up the sides of the oven and burns things on edges of sheet trays so you constantly have to rotate things.
Rye Bread
Positive - Prepping for G's birthday - need some breadcrumbs; so gave a shot at a high hydration percentage Rye Bread again.
Negative - Failed again - it was OK, but not what I really wanted. Not worried about it - these are bread crumbs.
Short Rib 'Milanese/Schnitzel' and Eggs
with roasted Cabbage and Home fries
I'm trying to figure out what I'm making for Gretchen's birthday, and wanted to do a take on bitterballen, just larger. This brunch dish was a test run for the short rib - which was a good thing, since there was all sorts of issues.
Positive - The shortrib tasted good- braised in a standard mirepoix with wine, chicken stock, fresh thyme, and oregano.
The potatoes, cabbage and eggs tasted good - that's was the easy part.
Negative - After cooking the short rib on Saturday, I started Sunday by reduced the braising fluid and mixed it in with all of the short rib meat I pulled off. I pressed them into two ziploc containers to kind of mold them and put them in the freezer. I probably didn't leave them in long enough - they set up, but still fell apart a little when I breaded them; impatience got me again.
I really f'd up the cooking. I didn't heat the pan up enough and the patty shapes were too large for the pan so they really didn't have a crust like I wanted.
By the way, I'm a big fan of Iron Chef - but do not buy Iron Chef brand panko. I had a feeling that it was a bad idea when I bought them. They're too big or something.
The whole thing came out like hash, and not like a solid fried thing. Overall, the flavors were fine, but texturally a failure - and a big mess on the plate.
Leek/Cauliflower Pancake
w/ Kale or Broccoli Raab and Roasted Daikon
Positive - Put this together after we got back from watching the awful Bills game. It tasted pretty good. Gretchen and I are both into scallion pancakes, and I don't know why I don't make them more often, you can really put anything in there. Its one of those batters that's good to have in your back pocket. I can have problems flipping these things, but I did it okay.
Even the soy 'dipping' sauce was good, and normally I have really hard time balancing things with soy; but basically this was a vinegrette.
Negative - The batter/pancake was probably a little thick - but with the florets of the cauliflower it needed to be a little thicker than your typical scallion pancake.
Made too much batter, but ended up making stuffed crepes with some of the weekend leftovers on Monday with it
CSA
Arugula
Daikon Radish
Sweet Potatoes
Green Cabbage
Toscano Kale
Broccoli Raab
Broccoli
Leeks
Apples
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